Beast from the East hits Stirling
The worst snow in years sparked chaos in the Stirling area as the ‘Beast from the East battered the region.
Shops and businesses were forced to close their doors, roads were blocked and public transport all but cancelled as a red weather warning for snow was declared.
Drivers who were trapped for hours on the M80 included two Stirling police officers who had been in Glasgow on a taser course.
Among those rushing to assist were mountain rescue volunteers from the Ochils, who handed out vital supplies to those stranded on the motorway.
NHS Forth Valley staff were forced to sleep overnight at hospitals and in hotels to ensure essential health services would be maintained.
Schools and nurseries in Stirling area were closed for a number of days as a result.
Heroic NHS staff stayed overnight at Forth Valley Hospital while others walked for miles in snow to ensure they would be at work to see to their patients.
Heavy snow and ice caused public transport to shut down while a number of busy roads were off limits to motorists, leaving many people unable to get to work. However those working with NHS Forth Valley were determined to ensure they weren’t among them and that “essential health services” would be maintained.
Two Stirling police officers who had been delivering a ‘taser course’ in Glasgow were among those stranded on the M80 in blizzard conditions .
Sid Trotter and Wullie Wyllie were trapped in their vehicle on the motorway for more than six hours.
The pair had been delivering a training course in the morning but were forced to hit the road and return home after the Met Office announced a red weather warning.
Sid, who lives in Callander, told the Observer: “We left Glasgow at around five to two and thought we would be fine. However, when we were near Haggs things completely ground to a halt.
“We’d heard a lorry had jack-knifed up ahead and that was causing some of the problems – but there were also cars shooting up the hard shoulder and lorries blocking the outside lane. I think people just lose a bit of patience, to be honest.”
A hearty band of volunteers braved the Arctic weather conditions to help the stranded drivers on the snowbound M80.
Members of the Ochils Mountain Rescue Team (Ochils MRT) sprung in to action to help motorists, some of whom were stuck in the blizzard conditions for up to twelve hours.
Fourteen members of the mountain rescue team, based at Fishcross, ventured on to the gridlocked route to assist other emergency services.
The team members went from car to car to check on the welfare of drivers and passengers and to hand out supplies of food and water.
Stirling Council drafted in farmers to help deal with the treacherous road conditions brought on by the severe weather.
The council enlisted the help of Tayforth Machinery Ring – a farmers co– operative formed in 1989 to encourage a joint use of agricultural equipment and labour between its farming and nonfarming members.